33
Huxley
Inever want this night to end. This girl beside me has not only dragged me out of my comfort zone, but she also put a smile on my face that lasted longer than a smile ever has. And it’s still on my face, bringing an ache that I never knew could be comforting.
My arm rests comfortably on the bench seat behind her, where my hand can trace the skin on the back of her neck. She’s gotten so much more used to my touch, and thank god for that, because I don’t know how much longer I was going to be able to be around her without constantly touching her.
I pull up outside her apartment complex, and she gets out of the truck, still humming the last song that was playing.
I get out behind her, watching her dance down the walkway to her apartment.
Following behind with my hands in my pockets, I watch my girl burst with energy from a night I’ll never forget.
“Oh my god. That was unbelievable. Just so amazing.” She stops suddenly and grabs my arm. “But now I feel bad.”
Worry courses through me. “Why?”
“Because I didn’t get you anything.”
A smile lifts on my lips. “Smile,” I deeply command.
“What?” she laughs, but her smile grows all the same across her beautiful face.
“There,” I breathe, tracing the curve of her smile with my eyes. “That’s all I need. Knowing you are so overly happy.”
Her eyes soften as she stares up at me. “I am happy,” she confirms, and my heart flips over itself knowing that I’m the one who made her happy.
I look at her and remember the night we’ve had. How she’s letting me experience things that I never thought I could. How she’s letting me be someone I never thought I could be. My eyes fall on her lips again, but this time I’m not looking at her smile.
I’m thinking about how it would feel to finally have her lips on mine. To finally pull her close and try to pour all of my feelings out to her.
I take a step closer to her, and she pulls in a deep breath. Hopefully, that means she’s as excited as I am. I mean, it probably means she’s nervous, but fuck so am I.
My hand slides over her waist, and she tips her head back to look at me. One more glance at her waiting lips, and I lean down.
She leans back.
“Sorry,” I whisper, defeated. Dejected. “I thought you wanted to.”
But clearly she didn’t. Clearly, I’ve been mistaken by how perfect this night was going. Maybe she didn’t see it as perfect as I did.
She grabs my jacket so I can’t pull away anymore. “No, I do. I really do. It’s just…” Her grip tightens on my jacket, pulling me closer as her eyes swim with fear. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Like, do I have to move or tilt or hold my breath?”
I quietly laugh and shake my head. This girl has created and broken the cuteness meter in my mind. I slide my hand further around her waist to pull her flush against me.
“Just close your eyes,” I whisper. “Once you feel me, you’ll know exactly what to do.”
Her head tilts to the side. “That’s it? It just comes to me?”
“Something like that.”
She nibbles on her bottom lip, and somehow, I’m jealous of her. Because I very much want to bite her lip too.
“What if I mess up?” she whispers.
I grip her tighter. “You won’t.”
“What if I’m terrible at it?”
“That’s impossible.”
“But what if—”
“Close your eyes.”
Her eyes finally fall closed, and I take a moment to stare at her features. I’ve always gotten so lost in her eyes that I’m finally seeing her face for the first time. I could stare at her all day, but I can feel her tensing up in my hold.
I lift my hand and tilt her chin up a little more, letting my fingers softly trace her neck before lightly gripping her throat. Then I do what I’ve always wanted to do. I kiss her.
Her body caves into mine like she can’t hold herself up anymore, but I’ll gladly be the one to hold her up. Our mouths move together better than I could have ever imagined. Like my lips were made to kiss hers.
I pull away, not wanting to overwhelm her with her first kiss, but fuck, it’s hard not to go back in. Not to completely devour this woman in front of me.
Her eyes slowly open back up to me, and I nearly lose my mind. How can she become more beautiful after a kiss? Wide eyes staring up at me, slightly swollen lips begging me to kiss her again.
“Did I do it wrong?” she whispers, fear running wild in her eyes, and I hate the sight of it.
“Fuck no.”
I grab the back of her neck and pull her back up to me, our lips colliding even more intensely than before. Both of my hands weave through her hair, keeping her as close to me as possible as I walk her backwards. This might be too much for her first kiss, but I can’t take it anymore.
A small whimper leaves her lips when she hits the cold wall behind her, but it’s a whimper that has me diving in deeper.
Her hands slide up my chest and into my hair, gripping me like no one has before.
This woman, who has never been kissed, is controlling me like I’m the newbie. But I’ll gladly learn from her. How she wants to be kissed, how she wants to be touched. And I’ll give her everything I’ve got.
I groan and move my hands to her hips, pulling her even closer as I slip my tongue into her mouth. Val matches every move I make, our mouths moving in tandem to a dance that is all our own.
I don’t want this to end. I want us to stay connected like this until the end of time. But Val pulls back with a gasp, and I’m suddenly reminded that breathing is important. Though if I died by kissing Valentina Demarco and forgetting to breathe, I would have gladly accepted that death.
We both struggle for air for a moment, and my forehead falls against her while I breathe her in.
“So I didn’t do anything wrong?” Her voice soft and deep from our kiss.
I barely shake my head. “You might be the best kisser I’ve ever known.”
She huffs. “Right. Like that’s possible.”
I lean back and stare into her deep brown eyes so she can look into mine and see how serious I am. I bring my hand up to her face and hold her carefully, but firmly, so she can’t look away.
“You’re perfect,” I whisper roughly.
Her eyes soften, the fear finally leaving them and filling with hope.
I pull her back to me, kissing her again. Because now that I’ve started kissing her, I know there’s no way I’ll ever be able to stop.
This girl is mine, and I’ll kiss her every day until that is the only reality we can live in.